Eels slip past Raiders

The Eels looked lost for the majority of the match, and it wasn't until Hayne ran the length of the field in the 60th minute that they woke up and started playing the type of footy everyone knows they're capable of.

The Eels were down 16 points to 4 and easily could have been down more had Justin Carney not ruled to have been short of the line. Seconds later the Raiders had a repeat set, they tried to go wide, and Hayne latched onto the ball, racing away for the spoils.

From there it was all Eels, with Krisnan Inu crossing in the 68th and Eric Grothe collecting his second three minutes later to give the Eels a two point lead that they held onto for the win.

Prior to Hayne's try, the Eels were awful.

The got off to a promising enough start, with a long raid down the near touchline in the second minute almost resulting in a try.

From then on, however, the Eels were marred by poor handling, poor communication, and poor fifth tackle options, and the Raiders began to dominate.

Following a 40/20 from Terry Campese, Joel Monaghan forced his way past Nathan Hindmarsh for the opening points.

Five minutes later, young Justin Carney looked to get himself on the board in spectacular fashion when he collected the ball at lock in a mid-field scrum and broke right up the middle of the scrum, racing away for the try. Video ref scrutiny showed hooker Stuart Flanagan had in fact held back an Eels player, and a penalty was the result.

Canberra fullback David Milne found himself in the bin at the 21st after committing a professional foul in holding down Luke Burt when he had no right to.

Armed with an extra player advantage for the next ten minutes, the Eels should have grabbed this opportunity with both hands.

However, their poor play continued, and they were only able to muster up a solitary try, to winger Grothe, before Milne returned to the field.

The remainder of the first half was forgettable, and the Raiders carried a 6 points to 4 advantage to the sheds.

The opening of the second half was just as forgettable as the first, with both teams looking to have picked up where they left off, with dropped balls left, right and centre.

Canberra were the only team able to make the most of their chances, with rookie Jarrod Croker crossing in the 50th, before Joe Picker ran over the top of Brett Finch for his try in the 56th.

The denied try to Carney at the 60th, followed by Hayne's intercept, sparked the Eels to life and the Raiders weren't sighted again.

The Raiders are yet to register a win this season, and all the pressure is on rookie coach David Furner to lead his charges to a win over Parramatta at Parramatta, a task made all the more harder following the loss of severely underrated captain Alan Tongue. Parramatta, meanwhile, registered their first win of the season last week, and will look to make it two from three tonight in their first home game of the season.

Team changes are as such:
Parramatta: The Eels are 1-through-17 as named on Tuesday.
Canberra: As stated, the Raiders have lost captain Alan Tongue to a shoulder injury, with Trevor Thurling moving into the starting lineup and Travis Waddell added to the bench to make his first grade debut.

2 min: Exciting stuff early on from Parra. A lovely cut-out ball from Hindmarsh puts Ben Smith on a big run down the near touch-line, before he kicks in-field where Hayne collects and dots down for the try, only to be ruled to have knocked on.

3 min: Now it's the Raiders turn, with Monaghan keeping the ball alive and offloading to Carney who races down the far touch-line before being caught on the Parra 30.

3 min: PENALTY - Raiders: Eels up inside the ten. Campese asks his teammates if he should take the two, before eventually tapping the ball.

4 min: Lucky break for Inu, when on the last tackle the Raiders kicked cross-field, the ball was tapped back by a Raider and collected by Inu, who then lost the ball in the tackle. Steve Lyons ruled no advantage, and the Eels get the ball back.

6 min: PENALTY - Raiders: Eels up inside the ten again, and the Raiders get an easy passage out of their half.

7 min: Campese grubbers through, and Grothe is forced to take it dead. Goal line dropout.

14 min: Marc Herbert will be wondering if anyone got the number plate of the truck that hit him, after Eric Grothe wound up and ran right over the top of him.

15 min: Hayne puts up a monster spiral bomb, which Milne lets bounce before collecting and being tackled in-goal by Hayne.

15 min: Brett Finch lets the Raiders off the hook, unable to handle Campese's drop-out and handing possession over on halfway.

16 min: VIDEO REF - Possible Raiders Try...
Carney has streaked away for a try, but we're just checking for a possible obstruction.

16 min: NO TRY - Penalty Eels: Carney packed into the scrum at lock, and ran straight up the middle after the scrum broke and away for the try, however it was shown that Flanagan held back an Eels player.

19 min: Shocking last tackle play for Parra, with Keating passing the ball to a completely unaware Ben Smith, and the Raiders collecting possession on the Eels 30.

20 min: Poor last tackle option from Campese see's Burt collect the grubber and race straight through the defensive line and away before being ankle tapped on halfway.

21 min: PENALTY - Eels & SIN BIN
David Milne committs the professional foul in failing to let Burt play the ball quickly, and is off for a ten minute break.

22 min: Harrison ruled to have passed the ball after held was called. Parra to receive possession on the Raiders 20.

23 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
Parra take full advantage of their one-man advantage with Burt throwing the cutout pass and finding an unmarked Grothe on the wing for the try. Conversion attempt by Luke Burt unsuccessful.
Canberra Raiders 6-4

24 min: Eels looking a bit slippery tonight, with Galuvao almost losing the ball following the restart, then Mannah losing it completely on the fourth tackle.

27 min: Strange fifth tackle kick from Hayne, who drills it into touch just past halfway. Not the play you'd expect from the team with the extra player

30 min: Eels look to have lost their way a bit, throwing the ball around a lot but not making any ground, before the ball is eventually thrown over the sideline. Once again, all this from the team with the perpetual overlap

31 min: PENALTY - Raiders: Lifting tackle on Turner gives the Raiders a full set on the Eels line. Raiders back to 13 with Milne back on the field.

32 min: A horrible, horrible pass from Flanagan at dummy half goes past a Raiders player who was in two minds as to whether he was the receiver or the dummy runner, and bounces straight into Finch's chest.

36 min: A towering spiral bomb from Campese is knocked back from Burt, with replays showing it just have easily could've been ruled a knock on.

38 min: Canberra will have one last chance to increase their lead after Parra are pulled up for a forward pass.

40 min: Parra hold on and will go to the sheds trailing by just two.

HALF TIME
It's half time here at Parramatta Stadium, where the Canberra Raiders lead the locals by 6 poitns to 4. So far it's been a relatively dour contest. Both teams have been able to find space on the fringes and up the middle, however poor service from dummy half, poor handling and poor fifth tackle options have prevented either team from mounting any real pressure. Canberra have dominated the game so far, with an almost 60-40 possession advantage, however will be disappointed not to lead by more. Parramatta will be equally as disappointed, having played with an extra man advantage for ten minutes of the half, but with only one try to show for it.

Both coaches will no doubt stress the imporatance of communication on the field, and whichever team heeds this advice will go on to win this match. Who will that be? Stay tuned, the second half just minutes away!

40 min: The Eels get the second half underway!

41 min: Grothe winds up yet again, and this time makes a speed bump of Thurling.

42 min: Scrum to Parra ten out from the Raiders line after Milne is unable to handle a Finch bomb.

43 min: Raiders off the hook early after Finch dummys to Lowrie before passing under heavy pressure, forcing the knock on from Lowrie.

45 min: Finch tests Milne yet again, however this time Milne is up to the task.

47 min: Now Shillington has lost the ball for the Raiders. Parra with a set on halfway, however their line set gives the impression it's going to be a set of one out runs.

48 min: Desperate tackling by Canberra traps Inu in possession on the last.

49 min: Grothe makes plenty of metres heading towards the far touchline, before passing out to Ben Smith who, seeing he was rapidly running out of space, throws the ball back inside and straight to a Raiders.

50 min: TRY Canberra Raiders
Easy try for Croker here, who used his strength to plant the ball down in the corner under heavy attention from two Eels defenders. Conversion attempt by Terry Campese unsuccessful.
Canberra Raiders 10-4

53 min: Good restart set by the Raiders almost results in a repeat set, however in trying to regather the ball Campese kicks it into the hands of a Parra player.

54 min: This time Burt puts a high ball up for Milne, who takes his second in a row.

55 min: PENALTY - Raiders: Campese attempts another 40/20, however the ball is kept in play by Burt. Rookie referee Chris James then inexplicably blows a penalty for a late hit on the kicker, even though the play was still alive.

59 min: Inu tries to force the pass, and Canberra regather the ball, 30 out from the Parra line.

60 min: VIDEO REF - Possible Raiders Try...
Carney goes over for the second time tonight, however once again comes under scrutiny for a possible obstruction, and also the put-down.

60 min: NO TRY - Play the ball
Carney ruled to have come up short, Raiders to get one last play.

61 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
Following a repeat set for a knock on, the Raiders then moved to get the ball out wide, where it was intercepted by Hayne who ran the length of the field to get the Eels back in this one. Conversion attempt by Luke Burt successful.
Canberra Raiders 16-10

65 min: Inu once again forces the pass deep in his own half, with this one lucky to come off.

66 min: PENALTY - Eels: Raiders guilty of holding down in the tackle. Eels to restart on halfway.

68 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
After looking to have almost thrown the ball away deep in his own half, Inu atones by racing through and planting the ball down to get the Eels within two. Conversion attempt by Luke Burt unsuccessful.
Canberra Raiders 16-14

69 min: PENALTY - Eels: All the momentum with Parramatta at the moment. Raiders up inside the ten, Parra now up over halfway.

71 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
Eric Grothe beats three defenders and slams the ball down in the corner to give the Eels the lead for the first time tonight. Conversion attempt by Luke Burt unsuccessful.
Parramatta Eels 18-16

73 min: Poor last tackle kick from Finch will give the Raiders a scrum on their 40 metre line.